There is no such thing as accomplishing a righteous reform by the use of "expediency." There is no such thing as sliding up- hill.In morals the only sliders are backsliders.

It is the marriage of the soul with nature that makes the intellect fruitful, and gives birth to imagination

We seem but to linger in manhood to tell the dreams of our childhood, and they vanish out of memory ere we learn the language.

Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.

No man with a genius for legislation has appeared in America. They are rare in the history of the world. There are orators, politicians, and eloquent men, by the thousand; but the speaker has not yet opened his mouth to speak who is capable of settling the much-vexed questions of the day. We love eloquence for its own sake, and not for any truth which it may utter, or any heroism it may inspire. Our legislators have not yet learned the comparative value of free trade and of freedom, of union, and of rectitude, to a nation.

A man will not need to study history to find out what is best for his own culture.

It is good even to be a fisherman in summer and in winter.